Current Events

What The Paris Attacks Mean For Greece's Refugee Crisis. Migrants Stranded In Greece Clash With Police At Macedonia Border. Refugees In Greece Brace For A Cold Winter Ahead. Migrants try to break through Greece-FYROM. Over 200 migrants on Thursday tried to break through barbed wire fences on Greece’s border with Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), throwing stones at police, AFP reporters said.

At least five of the migrants managed to get across in the assault as the crowd shouted "Open the border" to the FYROM police ranged across them. All five were returned to the Greek side by FYROM police. Since last week, FYROM has restricted passage to northern Europe to only Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans who are considered war refugees. All other nationalities are deemed economic migrants and told to turn back.

Paris bomber had Syria refugee passport, official says. Now more than ever, since the Syrian war began 4½ years ago, the crisis can be summed up as damned if you do, damned if you don't.

What made it worse? Sunday's revelation that at least one of the Paris terrorists who killed more than 120 people on Friday entered Europe as just another face in the crowd -- embedded in the current wave of Syrian war refugees. The development appears likely to fire up the security debate over what to do with them. More than 4 million refugees have come to Europe since Syrian government forces and rebels started fighting, opening up safe havens for ISIS and pro-ISIS forces. The immigrant wave into Europe has been reaching new highs and it shows no sign of tapering off.
Greece faces potential refugee pile-up. (Photo courtesy AMG International via Facebook) Greece (MNN) — As the world reacts to the attacks in Paris, many European countries are considering closing their borders to refugees, which would potentially make the crisis even worse.

“There is a lot more fear. There is a lot more worry that, among refugees, are a number of terrorists,” said Tasos Ioannidis of AMG International.
Greece Presents 2016 Budget and Revamps Recession Prediction. Photo ATHENS — Greece on Friday presented an optimistic budget for 2016, predicting a recession milder than expected in previous forecasts.

The government also said that final numbers for 2015 would indicate the economy will have been flat for the full year, rather than the deep contraction of 2.3 percent that had been expected. One reason is that the capital controls the government imposed on banks over the summer were less damaging to the Greek economy than had been feared. And next year, the government said, the economy will shrink by only 0.7 percent as it continues carrying out cost cuts required by its 86-billion-euro, or $92 billion, international bailout package. As recently as last month, the government had predicted an economic contraction of 1.3 percent in 2016.
Four Children Among Migrants Found After Boat Crash Near Greece. ATHENS — The bodies of four children, one of them a baby, were among those of seven migrants recovered off the Greek island of Lesbos on Thursday after their wooden boat collided with a Greek Coast Guard vessel that was on a rescue operation, a Greek Shipping Ministry official said.

The collision occurred shortly after 11 a.m. as the boat, sailing from Turkey, approached the island’s northern coast, the official said. “It’s not clear exactly what happened,” the official said.
As number of refugee and migrant arrivals to Greece hits half a million, UNHCR warns of continued chaos unless reception in Greece strengthened and relocation expedited. Briefing Notes, 20 October 2015 This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Melissa Fleming – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing, on 20 October 2015, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

As number of refugee and migrant arrivals to Greece hits half a million, UNHCR warns of continued chaos unless reception in Greece strengthened and relocation expedited. Over 500,000 migrants arrived in Greece this year, says UN. More than half a million refugees and migrants have arrived by sea in Greece this year and the rate of arrivals is rising with more than 8,000 coming on Monday alone, in a rush to beat the onset of freezing winter, the United Nations said on Tuesday.

UN refugee agency spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said 27,500 people remained in transit on Greek islands near Turkey, many voicing fears that borders ahead of them in northern Europe will close again, although migrants were passing from Croatia into Slovenia after Hungary sealed its frontier with Croatia. “We have reached another dramatic milestone, with the arrival yesterday [Monday] of 8,000 people, bringing the total to 502,500. Obviously we knew this was coming, but we do see a spike in arrivals in Greece,” Ms Fleming told a news briefing.
Migrant crisis: Arrivals to Greece top 500,000. Image copyright AFP/Getty Images The number of migrants who have arrived in Greece this year has topped half a million, the United Nations said.

The rate of people arriving has risen to 8,000 a day, the UN's High Commissioner for Refugees said, with many hoping to beat winter weather. Most migrants then head north from Greece, but bottlenecks are forming in some Balkan states. Slovenia has deployed its army to its border after being overwhelmed by numbers entering from Croatia.
New England U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Jeanne Shaheen Visit Greece. U.S.

Senator Elizabeth Warren from Massachusetts was in Greece on a fact finding mission, accompanied by New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen.
Aid workers in Greece braced for more migrants, despite worsening weather. Those fleeing conflict remain undeterred by the worsening weather and colder autumn temperatures Greece is bracing itself for thousands more Syrians and other people to land on Lesbos and other key island crossings from Turkey, as those fleeing conflict remain undeterred by the worsening weather and colder autumn temperatures in their desperate search for safety in Europe.

“The waves were rolling fiercely with the salt water nearly choking us,” said Syrian Um Tariq, who identified herself using the familial Arabic nickname, meaning mother of Tariq, her eldest son. “We thought we were going to die.” “The trip, meant to be a half-hour long, was a painful three hours in a tightly packed dinghy we feared would overturn,” she told the Catholic News Service of the sea voyage from Turkey to this Greek island. Women cried out in panic and men shouted, desperately holding onto their babies and young children, appealing for assistance from the volunteers gathered on shore to help them land.
Greek shipping industry faces threat of higher taxes. Image copyright Getty Images On 6 April 1941, Piraeus, one of the main harbours in Greece, was hit in a German bombing raid.
Greece to raise entry prices for museums and historic sites. Entry to some of Greece’s most famous museums and monuments is to become significantly more expensive after the country’s government announced price rises that could go as high as 150%.

The country wants to raise more money from its tourism industry and is targeting the “unacceptably low” fees its government feels tourists pay to see sites such as the Acropolis.
Tsipras government wins key parliament vote in Greece. Athens (AFP) - The government of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras won a crucial vote of confidence Thursday, bolstering the left-wing leader as he gets down to implementing reforms demanded by creditors. The governing coalition of the premier's left-wing Syriza party and the nationalist Independent Greeks (ANEL) used their 155-strong majority to pass the motion through the 300-seat parliament. The vote wraps up three days of debate, which were largely for form's sake after Tsipras in July signed Greece up to a roadmap of budgetary overhauls agreed with the IMF and EU in return for further bailout funds.

His agreement to further belt-tightening sparked a rebellion by the hard-left wing of his party, prompting the government to call fresh elections which Syriza comfortably won last month. In July, Athens signed up to more tax hikes and public spending cuts in return for a three-year, 86-billion-euro ($96-billion) EU bailout -- its third since 2010. View gallery. Refugee arrivals surge in Greece with bad weather ahead: IOM.

Migrant arrivals in Greece 'surge' to 7,000 daily - IOM. Greece’s economic crisis: a breakdown. To say that this past year has been an eventful one for Greece would be an understatement. The country has faced intense political and financial instability. Throughout the year Greece has been facing a showdown of sorts with its creditors, those being the other nations that use the euro, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). However the recently re-elected Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has finally given in and accepted a new package of budget cuts, tax increases and other economic policy changes.

Alexis Tsipras pledges to steer Greece back to growth. Greece prepares for another election.